Regular or Synthetic Winch Cable????

My first winch was damaged in a wreck last week, but insurance will cover another one so anything that awesome about the synthetic to make me get it or should I stay with the regular one?

 

Synthetic is better. Only downside is it's more $. If insurance covers it, get it

 

Synthetic line is lighter, stronger, easier to work with, and it won't destroy your hands if you grab it.


Most importantly, synthetic line is far less likely to kill you or damage anything if it snaps.

It can also be repaired if it does break.

IMO it's borderline reckless to use steel wire anymore, with synthetic line being so advantageous.

 

Ok thanks for the input guys

 

I prefer steel, but I use my winch to drag trees ut of the woods. Abrasion resistance is really the only benefit of steel.

 

Ok so I could either use some of the extra insurance money to upgrade to synthetic or use it for new step up bars and/or a 10" led bar. I have some people telling me that the synthetic isn't that crazy of a difference other than the few things yall mentioned above. But considering I'm a weekend warrior type of off roader what do yall think now haha.

 

i would say it's even that much more important for a weekend warrior. the safety benefits are tremendous, plus it reduces the weight hanging off the front of your truck by about 25 lbs. that's huge.

 

Oh really? Guess I'm leaning back towards synthetic....

 

I just went synthetic but was wondering if the sunlight or weather exposure would break it down. Anyone?

 

The only reason I went steel is because I was too cheap at the time. But with that being said, I've used my steel line plenty of times and it's worked perfectly fine every single time. The bigger part of everything is making sure you have a good winch. My Warn has outperformed my smittybilt tenfold.

 

Most line is supposed to be uv resistant.

 

In my experience, most synthetic line is "resistant" to UV, but not impervious. So, it does degrage over time. For me it goes like this:

Steel
Pros"
Abrasion resistant (won't cut or chafe)
Stronger for a given line diameter
I've never witnessed, or heard of, a line failure

Cons:
difficult to work with (hard to spool neatly, can cut your hands)
heavier per unit length
If it breaks, it could kill you

Synthetic Pros:
Easier to work with
lighter (more strength per weight)
Packs neater/tighter on your winch
If it breaks, you might only be injured

Cons:
Very susceptable to abrasion and cutting
Wears with use. (and, to a certain degree, UV)
I have heard stories of synthetic snapping

I think, overall, you just need to pick the material that best suits your uses and needs.

 

thanks!

 

I actually have the money to get the same regular steel line smittybilt I had and get more aggressive tires with smaller wheels with my insurance money(my truck came with the 20" Enkei rims on it so I put terra grapplers on), or upgrade to synthetic, get nfab step bars, and possibly a light bar of some sort.

 

I wouldn't agree with all your points.

Synthetic is actually the stronger material.
My group birdcaged a steel line in under 24 hours.
The people who have busted steel line usually have harrowing tales and don't like talking about it
I talked with the guy who received the original first production line of amsteel blue. He puts on Offroad classes professionally and product tests tons of stuff. His line finally broke 2 years ago. He pulled out a kit and repaired it in a few minutes.

 

I recently switched to synthetic, mainly to save weight, and it's ease of use. Plus it floats

The weight reduction of the winch line and the fairlead was actually noticeable when driving

 

I'm sure that people have actually broken their steel lines, I just haven't heard of anyone doing it. As for bird caging, that's part of what I was getting at when I said steel is harder to handle. It's hard to keep neat on the spool and you have to keep it neat. If you don't spool it correctly, you'll end up making a mistake like your friend there. That being said, you also need to pay close attention to the synthetic. I bet that guy with the amsteel kept a close eye on it to make sure it didn't chaff or fray over the 2 years he used it. Once it frays, it slowly degrades until it breaks, so it should be replaced. I still have steel line on my winch because I have winched with the line touching the outer edge of my hawse style fairlead. This would stress a synthetic line. I've also winched on the same line more times than I can count, for over 5 years without issue. I'm not trying to pick a fight here, but people also need to know that the synthetic line is more fragile in some ways.